Northfields tube station

Northfields station stands in the London Borough of Ealing, on the Piccadilly line’s Heathrow branch between Boston Manor and South Ealing. The tracks run beneath Northfield Avenue, in fare zone three. It replaced an earlier halt called Northfield (Ealing) in 1932, when Charles Holden designed the present brick and concrete ticket hall. Holden also created similar stations at Sudbury Town and Acton Town. The building rises as a tall block above low wings that once housed shops and offices. The station is worth the journey for its modernist architecture and railway history. In the 1930s it became the western end of Piccadilly line services, linking central London to Hounslow West. Trains now enter and leave the adjacent Northfields depot, which holds Piccadilly line stock overnight. The depot track passes under the running line in a cutting to avoid delays. In 1994 English Heritage listed the ticket hall at Grade II for its clean European lines and careful brickwork. Visitors find a quiet station with four platform faces served by two island platforms. The ticket hall’s clerestory windows let in daylight above the brick walls. A single track connects the depot to the westbound line beyond Boston Manor. London buses E2, E3 and the night N11 stop outside on Northfield Avenue. The substation across the road dates from the same period, adding to the site’s coherent 1930s railway landscape.